Anachronox

Anachronox is a role-playing game similar in nature to many Japanese role-playing video games like Final Fantasy. The player controls a party of up to three characters as they explore a 3D environment (colloquially known as a "field map") of futuristic cities, space vessels, and outdoor areas. Players can swap for new party members, talk to non-player characters, and collect and shop for equipment and items. When players near an interactive character or item, a floating arrow-shaped electronic device called the LifeCursor appears, which lets the player click on the person or item. MysTech cannot be used until they are awakened after a certain story event. Eight basic colors of MysTech exist, representing different elements; for example, green represents poison. Players can use MysTech to inflict damage upon enemies, plague them with certain status effects (such as freezing them in place), or heal party members. Casting status effect-MysTech on party members will cure them if afflicted by enemy status spells. MysTech slabs and Elementor Hosts can be found as treasure in the game world or bought from shops. To create MysTech, players place colored bugs (found on small hills in several game locations) in empty slots on an Elementor Host. The color of bugs placed in the function slot determines the color of MysTech, while other slots modify the power and/or range of the spell. Players can add special bugs known as Cobalt Crawlers to make a spell target all enemies instead of one; a Host filled with eight Crawlers unlocks a secret spell. The effect of bugs can be amplified by feeding them petals from Lifeflowers, which can be found scattered throughout the world of Anachronox. Special types of Hosts with two or three different functions allow players to pick which MysTech function to use in battle. == Plot ==

Setting The game takes place on Anachronox (a portmanteau of anachronism and noxious, meaning "poison from the past" Husks of futuristic cities exist on artificial tectonic plates, which constantly shift to connect different parts of the planet. Inhabitants believe that diseased aliens were quarantined there eons ago, resulting in the name Anachronox. Northern Anachronox is clean and upscale, while southern Anachronox is crime-ridden and run-down. Civilizations conduct business using currency like the one-dollar coin known as a "loonie", while several people collect MysTech—shards of rock with markings, believed to be dormant weapons or art pieces created by an extinct alien race. Limbus is known as the "planet of death", as voyagers never return; its surface is arid and rocky, with sparse vegetation. A planet mentioned but not seen in the game is Krapton, home to superheroes and villains. Most of Krapton's human population has fled, tired of being constantly abducted and saved by warring superpeople. Characters The protagonist of Anachronox is Sylvester "Sly Boots" Bucelli, a human and former private detective on Anachronox. Twenty-nine years old and described as "bold, brash, and overconfident", Boots has gotten himself into trouble and now runs his agency out of rented storage space above a seedy bar. His only friends are PAL-18, his spirited, sarcastic robot assistant since childhood, and Fatima Doohan, his secretary. Fatima was fatally injured and digitized by Boots onto a PDA-analogue "LifeCursor", where she bitterly lives to render assistance. Several allies join Boots over the course of the game; first is 71-year-old Grumpos Matavastros, a "scholar, outdoorsman, eccentric recluse, and renaissance man"—and a very grumpy person. A former curator of the MysTech museum on Anachronox, Grumpos devotes his life to studying the artifacts. Dr. Rho Bowman joins the party on Sunder; she is a brilliant scientist who's been branded a heretic after publication of her book, MysTech Awake! The team then gains support from Democratus, an eccentric planet boasting a planetary ring and brilliant technology. Said technology includes having the planet shrink to human height to be part of the team. Two further allies are the femme fatale Stiletto Anyway—a 25-year-old former companion of Boots known for being stealthy and aloof—and Paco "El Puño" Estrella, a washed up superhero who's turned to alcoholism after his comic book series was canceled. Their foes include Detta, a heavyset crime boss/kingpin on planet Anachronox, and several other monsters and shady characters. Story Sly Boots lives in a cheap apartment above Rowdy's, a bar in the seedy "Bricks" section of South Anachronox. Grumpos Matavastros commissions Boots to find a piece of MysTech, but a crime boss called Detta accosts them and steals it. Grumpos, Boots, and robot assistant PAL-18 then seek out Dr. Rho Bowman, an expert on MysTech, at an institute for troublesome scientists on Sunder. She undertakes an experiment to activate MysTech, apparently causing the destruction of Sunder. Rho and the others escape the planet on a shuttle, and drift in space for seventeen days until they are brought on board a habitat ring around the planet Democratus. Rho discovers that all MysTech is now active, and can grant powers and spells. Boots pilots a fighter ship to save Democratus from insectoid invaders known as the Verilent Hive. The heroes return to Sender Station's Lounge of Commerce; Democratus joins the party, the High Council having shrunken the planet to human height. While searching for equipment, Boots earns money as an erotic dancer and encounters Stiletto Anyway, an old flame who's become an assassin and plots revenge against Detta. Rho explains that the universe operates on the Big Bounce principle; a universe that forms with a Big Bang will eventually suffer a Big Crunch, giving rise to a new Big Bang. She explains that Sunder was destroyed by an injection of matter from the previous universe, which will hasten the current universe's Big Crunch. If enough matter is switched between universes, the previous one can escape a Big Crunch and the current one will cease to exist. The team heads to Hephaestus, transformed to a tourist destination now that MysTech is active. They realize MysTech functions can be customized through the use of small, colored bugs and a MysTech host. Sly gains audience with the Grand Mysterium, who tells him that in the next universe, species known as "Chaos" and "Order" fought a bitter war. Order enslaved Chaos in the current universe, but Chaos wishes to escape to the previous universe to prevent future ones from existing and thus eradicate Order. Sly burst in with news of Stiletto's location, and he and Fatima pursued Detta across Anachronox by flying car. Sly lost control, wrecking it and accidentally killing Fatima. Suffering from major depression, Sly ran up debts with Detta to pay for Fatima's revival inside the LifeCursor. The team regather at Democratus and journey to Limbus, where they meet creatures of the same race as the Grand Mysterium. They repel invaders called the "Dark Servants" from an orbital portal. The leader of Limbus explains that though Chaos is enslaved in the current universe, the Dark Servants (who originate from the current universe) are trying to free them and have found a way into the previous universe, where they initiated the destruction of Sunder. MysTech is a gift from the forces of Order to help the current universe's inhabitants fight Chaos. Rowdy notes that they must destroy the key to the gate, now in the possession of Detta. The team infiltrate his fortress, kill him, and prepare to destroy the key at the gate itself—the fountain spiral of Anachronox. Grumpos seizes it, revealing himself to be a Dark Servant; he escapes with the agents of Chaos into the previous universe. Sly and the others prepare to follow them and save the universe; the game ends as they approach the gate. == Development ==

Conception Ion Storm began developing Anachronox in 1996, funded by Eidos Interactive as part of a three-game deal alongside Daikatana and an unplanned third game. Formal announcement followed in April 1997, promising a third-quarter 1998 release. Tom Hall, veteran designer and one of the founders of Ion Storm, helmed the project and originated most of its story and design. Other founding members of the team were Todd Porter (producer), Jake Hughes (associate producer and director of cinematics), Ben Herrera (artist), Brian Eiserloh (programmer), and David Namaksy (lead mapper). Hall first conceived Anachronox in his bathroom, prompting him to install a whiteboard and sound-recorder in his shower, as well as several notepads around his house for future ideas; He wrote a 460-page design document (completed in May 1997) outlining the universe of Anachronox, beyond the game's scope; Hall made plans for two expansion packs from the outset of development, owing to the huge story. Hall noted in mid-1997, "Not since Keen has a universe been so clear in my head." Hall remarked that the characters were facets of his childhood. Hall enlisted producer Jake Hughes to direct cut scenes; Hughes had previously worked on several short independent films. Hall remarked, "All these games switch to cutscenes that look five hundred times better than the game. The secret is not to let the cutscenes kick the game's ass." The team would implement engine support for 32-bit color, particle systems, a spline-based camera scriptor, facial deformations, and lip-synching. By the end of 1997, Hall had scripted interaction with 130 non-player characters for 160 planned locations. previewers drew parallels with the Final Fantasy series and Ultima III. Hall also drew dramatic inspiration from a scene in Chrono Trigger in which the characters discuss the theme of regret around a campfire. Ion Storm worked with QuakeEd developer Robert Duffy to create QERadiant, later adapted to ION Radiant. Ion Storm developed tutorials and documentation for each tool. Hall implemented a "grow as you play" philosophy, choosing to show certain features and statistics (like "Beat" or the use of MysTech) only after the player enabled their use. Tom Hall was impressed with Brown's work, particularly music for the planet Democratus. Tom Hall planned for each character to have their own theme music, and for songs to change via interaction or exploration. Sound programmer Henrik Jonsson implemented 3D sound and other capabilities using the Miles Sound System. Promotion and later development Ion Storm debuted a trailer for the game at E3 1997. The team worked several long nights and slept in a cardboard fort (named "Fort Nox") in the office to prepare the trailer. Hall continued writing and designing; he invented the Brebulan language by creating several phonemes and glyphs of the letter 8 turned on its side. The game would suffer serious delays in its production. Eidos regularly sent producer James Poole to Dallas to check progress. and assured inclusion of a multiplayer mode. Tom Hall touted, "It is going to be very cinematic and about as non-linear as you can get. Some levels will be bigger than anything ever seen in a 3-D environment. We are really pushing the engine for this, with loads of textures." Developers made two demonstrations; the second featured lasers, lens flare, and volumetric fog. The gaming press received Anachronox well; one reporter wrote the game was "stunningly beautiful...[with] some of the most superb effects ever seen in a computer game, including rippling water, stunning laser lights and shadow effects". Ion Storm planned for a 1999 release, Among the game's maps developed in 1998 were Hephaestus (polished by David Namaksy); Whitendon (Iikka Keränen); Democratus, "Matrix 0", and certain interiors of Anachronox (Larry Herring); and the city of Limbus (Rich Carlson). That November, several developers at Ion Storm departed to form their own company; among them was David Namaksy, lead level designer for Anachronox. Leaked e-mails evidencing leadership struggles at Ion Storm the following January eroded morale among the remaining team. Ion Storm decided to produce a sequel for Anachronox around early 1999, feeling there would otherwise be too much content for one game, requiring prohibitive costs and delays. Team member Brian Eiserloh noted that several art assets had already been created for the sequel. Ion Storm launched the Anachronox website in early 1999 with a movie-style trailer. Tom Hall featured four Anachronox non-player characters in his online tongue-in-cheek spoof of Kasparov versus the World. Among the game's maps completed in 1999 were the Bricks slums of Anachronox (Seneca Menard), Ballotine (Josh Jay), Sender Station (Lee Dotson), others parts of Democratus (Matt Sophos), the Casinox area of Anachronox (Brian Patenaude), and the junkyard maze of Anachronox. Tom Hall reported in 1999 that an option was being developed to remove adult themes, later manifested as an option to turn off profanity. He noted, "we're not above degrading our main character." Ion Storm showed off the mini-game at E3 2000, drawing humored reactions. Art director Lee Perry noted in March 2000 that perfecting the battle system was the biggest remaining hurdle for release. Ion Storm promoted a fall 2000 release date in May, and IGN reported in July that a Dreamcast port of Anachronox was planned for production after the PC version's release. Ion Storm issued a clarification that they were only considering a Dreamcast port. The team finished the game's control setup in August. Ion Storm loaned staff to the team of Daikatana to speed its release in summer 2000. Though losing money, Eidos allowed development of Anachronox to continue due their high esteem of Tom Hall, as well as a desire not to punish the game's team for the delays resulting from assisting Daikatana. Hall described weekly bug meetings before release: "you see 100 bugs at the start of the week, fix the 80 you can replicate, and then meet the next Monday to address the 200 bugs they found, fix the 160 you can replicate, then meet to discuss the 400 they found...the time in-between is scary. Usually, the programmers find the bug, then stumble out of their cube, 'we were SO lucky to find that' or 'how did that EVER work?' It's like some bizarre divination method that no one is quite sure how it finds things, but no one wants to 'disturb the mojo'." By June 2001, all dialogue had been recorded and Ion Storm was working on balancing, playtesting, and adjusting gameplay; release was set for the next month. Anachronox went gold and shipped to manufacturers in late June. Release and patches Anachronox was released on June 27, 2001, in North America, July 6 in the United Kingdom, and July 31 in Australia. PC Gamer packaged a game demo of Anachronox with its 100th issue. The Canberra Times staged a giveaway of three game copies to coincide with its release in Oceania. By the end of 2001, sales of Anachronox in North America had reached 20,480 units, according to PC Data. Vice later estimated sales four months after initial launch at 40,000 units. Team member Lucas Davis compiled the development tools and documentation for Anachronox and released them in August 2001. Four bug-fixing patches exist for Anachronox. Ion Storm created the first (1.01), which fixes a buffer overrun crash occurring especially under Windows 2000. Ion Storm released the first patch (1.01) on July 2, 2001, shortly before its offices were shuttered. The second patch (1.02, or build 44) was released in May 2003. This patch overhauls the save-game system, adds taxi-cabs between distant points in the Bricks and provides important stability fixes. It was followed by another patch by Joey Liaw, version 1.02 (build 45), released September 2003. In April 2004, a fan-made unofficial patch got released (version 1.02 (build 46) which fixes most of the remaining bugs. Fans have translated the game into German and released a conversion patch. Level designer Rich Carlson released a scrapped secret level for Anachronox in February 2004 after finding it on an old floppy disk. == Reception ==

Anachronox earned positive reviews from critics. The Daily Telegraph called it the most original game Ion Storm had produced, It was also USA Today's Game of the Week. Reviewers highlighted the gameplay style, branded an unusual mix between role-playing video games and PC first-person shooters. Some compared it to the Final Fantasy series and Deus Ex. Erik Wolpaw praised the battle system's unique focus on movement, but wished characters could wait for a turn rather than perform an action. The game's aesthetics were strongly praised. One reviewer appreciated the variety of styles in the music; and sci-fi scores. Alan Dang contrarily found the music at times "neutral" and generic; Numerous critics praised the voice acting and dialogue. Several reviewers praised the field map and level design of all but the last levels. Earlier ones were said to contain many "little details that bring the game to life" and significant immersion. The Guardian felt the lighting was too dark in general, Reviewers hailed the story, characters, setting, and dialogue of Anachronox, citing its science fiction themes and offbeat, quirky humor. The Advertiser summarized the plot as "a beefy storyline loaded with strong characters, powerful dialogue, outrageous humour, seemingly endless surprises and a wild ride around the galaxy." Elliott Chin singled out the game's humor, which, while divisive of Computer Gaming Worlds staff at first, Even apart from humor, the dialogue was acclaimed as "so clever, it almost distracts from the game play" David Gordon of The Independent enjoyed the game for its "dark and ominous" plot and setting, centered on the quest to stop the destruction of the universe. The setting was compared to Blade Runner, The Matrix, Total Recall and the Dark City franchise. particularly by averting the coming-of-age cliché. Sly was well-received, described as a "typical downtrodden B-movie private eye", and a "space-age Sam Spade". Several critics complained about the game's slow start on the planet Anachronox, Reviewer Elliott Chin disagreed, evoking "a superb sense of timing, starting out small and slowly building to the main event", while David Phelan stated that strong character writing would encourage gamers to play beyond the "pedestrian-paced" opening scenes. Several critics took issue with the game's graphics and outdated Quake II engine; reviewer Stephen Hunt named the game "a muddy affair" due to the "elderly" engine. Some reviewers, however, felt the game's charm made the engine's age irrelevant. Reviewers also encountered several software bugs and glitches, among them incompatibility with Windows 2000 == Legacy ==

Before releasing Anachronox, Ion Storm retextured characters and adapted sequences from the game for Shiner, a production by the Undermain Theatre. Scenes from the game were used to illustrate the vivid imagination and struggles of a paralyzed woman named Xela. He reflected on the game in 2007: Vice published a 2021 retrospective on the development of Anachronox, with the development team fondly remembering Hall's leadership. released as 13 MPEG files on Machinima.com. The work was considered by some to be machinima's first feature-length production and one of its most ambitious projects (although The Seal of Nehahra predated it by a few years). Judges at the 2002 Machinima Film Festival (MFF) awarded it Best Picture, Best Writing, and Best Technical Achievement. Machinima.com's editors said of the film, "Anachronox: The Movie is a tour de force, one of the finest Machinima films produced to date, and probably the most accomplished Machinima feature to date. Hell, it managed to hold two overworked jury members in a room for two and a half hours before the MFF 2002—what more can we say?" As of 2003, Machinima.com planned to release the film on DVD with extra footage and artwork. Sequel Tom Hall felt the story of Anachronox was too large for one game (requiring an estimated 70 hours of gameplay Ion Storm's closure nixed plans for a continuation; Hall has unsuccessfully tried to purchase the intellectual property rights to the Anachronox universe. On February 17, 2015, Square Enix announced that it will allow developers to create games based on some of their old Eidos IPs via the Square Enix Collective project, including the Anachronox IP. == References ==